U.S.: World Must Unite Against Terror

WASHINGTON – The White House (search) predicted defeat of the "global scourge" of terrorism after deadly bombings in Egypt that had U.S. officials on Saturday urging a united front from "all of us in the civilized world."

The car bombs and another blast ripped through a luxury hotel and a coffee shop in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik (search) early Saturday, killing scores of people from several nations. The bombings, the deadliest terrorist attack in Egypt's history, came just two days after a second series of strikes in London.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan (search) said the United States was ready to help the victims and assist Egypt in bringing the bombers to justice.

"The United States stands firmly with the people of Egypt at this time of national mourning," McClellan said in a statement. "Standing together with the rest of the civilized world, we will win the conflict against this global scourge."

President Bush, who is at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, spoke with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday morning to offer his personal condolences and the support of the American people.

In Ramallah, West Bank, where she met with Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also denounced the attacks in Egypt.

"We continue, all of us in the civilized world, to face great challenges in terrorism, and we continue to be united in the view that terrorism must be confronted and that they will not succeed in destroying our way of life," Rice said.

In an opinion article published Saturday in The New York Times, Steve Hadley, who is Bush's national security adviser, and Frances Fragos Townsend, who is the president's homeland security adviser, said the international community, and especially Muslims, must be unified in fighting terrorism.

"We need all citizens, everyone who loves freedom to join in the fight," the article said. "And in this fight, the people the terrorists most want to dominate — the people of Islam — will be our most important allies."

"Suicide attacks have likely killed and wounded more Muslims than people of any other faith," they wrote. "It is their religion that the terrorists invoke to justify these evil acts, and so Muslims themselves are in the best position to expose the terrorists' lies."